LVI Panzer Corps

LVI. Panzerkorps Helmuth Weidling

LVI Panzer Corps was a panzer corps in the German Army during World War II.

This corps was activated in February 1941 as the LVI Army Corps (mot.), for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which commenced on 22 June 1941. Erich von Manstein led the corps in its advance from East Prussia to Demyansk, where, in September 1941, he was informed of his appointment as commander of the German Eleventh Army.

On 1 March 1942, the Corps was renamed LVI Panzer Corps. In 1942, as part of Army Group Center's 3rd Panzer Army, the LVI Panzer Corps was used to fight Soviet partisans on the Eastern Front. The corps was active in the Spas-Demensk and Kirov area before withdrawing to Krichev and across the Dnieper.

In the spring of 1944, the LVI Panzer Corps fought at Zhlobin and Kalinkovichi in Belarus. In May 1944, the LVI Panzer Corps was transferred to Army Group North Ukraine. From 22 June to 19 August, during Operation Bagration, the Soviets destroyed Army Group Center and swept the Germans from Belarus. The corps withdrew through the Pripet Marshes towards Brest-Litovsk. From 13 July to 29 July, as part of the 4th Panzer Army, the LVI Panzer Corps was involved in the unsuccessful German defense against the Soviet Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive. The corps continued to withdraw through Poland and into Germany as the Soviet advance continued.

In 1945, the LVI Panzer Corps became part of Army Group Vistula's 9th Army. From 16 April to 19 April, at the Battle of Seelow Heights, the corps suffered heavy losses along with the rest of the 9th Army. The remnants of the LVI Panzer Corps ended the war defending the south-eastern sector of the Nazi capital in the Battle of Berlin.